LUCKNOW, Oct. 27 -- Buying a plot in Lucknow's upcoming Wellness City could cost nearly twice as much as in some of the Lucknow Development Authority's (LDA) existing housing schemes, with the authority proposing rates of over Rs 5,500 per square foot for the 485-hectare project. Planned as a specialised healthcare and wellness destination between Sultanpur Road and Kisan Path, the scheme is expected to be priced above the LDA's upcoming IT City, where plots are likely to cost around Rs 4,000 per square foot. The authority plans to launch both schemes together. LDA secretary Sushil Pratap Singh told Hindustan Times that the expected rates for Wellness City reflected its location near the Green Corridor and the expenditure involved in developing the project. "The rates for the upcoming scheme are expected to be over Rs 5,500 per square foot," Singh said. The authority is also factoring in the cost of constructing embankments and other infrastructure while calculating the project's development expenses, officials said. The LDA plans to develop Wellness City as a specialised healthcare and wellness hub covering seven villages: Bakkas, Malukpur Dhakwa, Chaurahia, Chaurasi, Dularamau, Noorpur Behata and Mastemau. The proposed facilities include super-speciality hospitals, a medical college, diagnostic centres, a Vipassana centre and meditation facilities. The authority plans to develop the project as a specialised destination for healthcare and wellness alongside residential facilities. The upcoming IT City scheme, meanwhile, is being developed across approximately 3,500 acres along Sultanpur Road. The proposed rate of over Rs 5,500 per square foot is higher than the estimated Rs 2,510 per square foot for Saumitra Vihar, an upcoming scheme of the Uttar Pradesh Housing and Development Board. The LDA has fixed rates of around Rs 2,800 per square foot in Varun Vihar, while plots in its Anant Nagar and Naimish Nagar schemes are priced at approximately Rs 3,810 and Rs 3,800 per square foot, respectively. An LDA official said private developers near the proposed Wellness City were already selling land at around Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 per square foot....